Dangerous Doors
by hiccups pickle
Summary: Hiccup Haddock is a grumpy Ravenclaw. Jack Overland is an annoyingly attractive Gryffindor. Things happen. Hijack Hogwarts AU.
1. Thestrals

**Words: **3065

**Pairings**: The main pairing is Hijack, I don't want to spoil the rest.

**Rating:** M, because I know I'm gonna fuck up at some point.

So yes, here it is! This is the first chapter of my Hogwarts AU! English isn't my first language and I'm using that as an excuse for any grammatical errors because I'm a brat. It's been a while since I've read the Harry Potter books so some things might be a bit off but oh well. Also, this is my first fic in a loooong time so u kno I'm a bit rusty. But yeah, I hope you like it and if you do then please let me know :)

...

**Chapter One**

The Womping Willow's leaves were reddening, the Scottish breeze was quickly growing colder and harsher, seeping through the cracks in the walls of the old castle. Honestly, Hiccup didn't understand why there wasn't a more advanced heating system at the school. He stood in the courtyard with his robes wrapped securely around his slender frame. He had been standing there for at least ten minutes, not really knowing what to do with his free period. He just wanted the bells to ring so he could go to lunch and listen to Rapunzel banter on about astronomy and how the Sun's allignment with Mars was going to affect the growth of death slings.

Hiccup sighed and turned around. He decided to start walking so he'd be in the Great Hall early. He pulled his scarf tighter around his neck and walked towards the entrance. He hurried inside and almost tripped as he walked through the corridor. Merlin how he hated that stupid leg of his! He'd had it for nearly eight years and he still tripped now and again because of it. He pushed the auburn hair from his face and picked up his pace.

He finally reached the Great Hall. The bell hadn't rung yet so the tables were pretty empty except from some hungry and rowdy Gryffindors. They were wearing dirty Quidditch uniforms. Hiccup frowned; couldn't they have spent the next ten minutes changing out of their uniforms instead of going to lunch early?

"Hiccup hi!" a light female voice chirped from behind him. He turned his head to find Rapunzel walking towards him. Her knee-long blonde hair was tied in a side braid and her neck was hidden behind a fluffy Ravenclaw scarf. She reached Hiccup and linked her arm with his. Together they walked to the Ravenclaw table.

"So where have you been this fine free period?" he asked, he put his elbows on the table and let his chin rest in his hands. Rapunzel sighed dreamily and looked at the Gryffindor table.

"I watched them practice for a few minutes," she replied, her voice low and secretive. "I made sure they didn't see me of course. And you should have seen her Hiccup, she was incredible up there."

Hiccup's eyes moved to the target of Rapunzel's affections. A girl with her head full of orange curls. A pair of big blue eyes dominated her face. She was Merida DunBroch, a fiesty Gryffindor who knew how to hit her bludgers. Hiccup didn't know what Rapunzel saw in her honestly, she was nothing but annoying and pretty obnoxious. But who was he to question Rapunzel's feelings? She was his best friend and she refused to let go of her crush.

Hiccup smirked. "So you just creeped on her from afar. Smooth."

"Shut up," she said. A blush spread across her cheeks and she looked down. "I just … I don't know."

Hiccup placed a comforting hand on her back. "I know. But have you ever considered actually talking to her Rae?" Rapunzel looked up at him. He rarely used that nickname for her. Only when they were alone and he was trying to comfort her. She could feel a small smile tugging at her lips.

"I … yeah," she said, her voice still low. "But she's so _out there_ you know? And I'm just some weirdo and I don't even know why I like her so much because like she's so different from me and like you always say, she's loud and annoying. I just wish it didn't hurt so bad."

Hiccup rubbed her back and gave her an encouraging smile.

"I don't even know if she's … _y'know_," Rapunzel whispered. "And even if she was, why would she ever be interested in me? I'm so boring Hiccup."

"Shut up," Hiccup said. "You're not boring, everyone who knows you knows that you're the most passionate person on this planet."

"Yeah, but she doesn't know me."

"Because you don't have the courage to go up and talk to her," Hiccup reminded her. "If you want her to like you you'll have to make an effort."

"Oh yes of course you'd know, especially after your very serious relationship with Jane Gregory back in third year." Rapunzel sighed and let her head drop onto the table surface.

"The sarcasm in your voice hurts me Rapunzel." Hiccup pressed a hand to his heart. "But," he began, dropping the joking tone, "you know I'm right."

Rapunzel lifted her head and looked at him. Their eyes locked and she saw the determination and worry in his. She sighed and looked away. Hiccup was right, he was always right. While he wasn't as book smart as she was he was the most perceptive person she'd ever met. He just _understood_ without her ever saying a word.

"I know," she whispered. "I just … I don't think I'm ready yet." She gazed down at the table and let out a deep sigh. Hiccup put his arm around her and gave her a little squeeze.

"Okay," he said. "Let me now when you're ready."

She looked up at him and smiled. "Will do – probably," she said. Hiccup rolled his eyes and removed his arm.

…

"I don't want to have classes with Gryffindor," Rapunzel whined as she, Hiccup, and Fishlegs made their way to their first afternoon class. The headmistress had finally realised that pairing Slytherin and Gryffindor together was a bad idea. So Gryffindor and Ravenclaw were now paired together for most classes.

"I feel bad for the Hufflepuffs," Fishlegs said.

Hiccup rolled his eyes. "I'm sure it'll be fine. Hufflepuff won the Quidditch cup from Slytherin last year so the snakes should feel humbled. Or they'll be more pissed off than ever and kill every Hufflepuff currently on school grounds."

They reached the grounds by the edge of the forest where the rest of the class was already waiting. Professor Caverly, their Care of Magical Creatures professor, smiled when she saw them arrive. "Well, that's everyone then." She scribbled something on a piece of parchment before turning her attention back to the class.

"Welcome to your third year of Care of Magical Creatures! As you all know I'm professor Caverly. This year we will focus on getting closer to the creatures we've dealt with in the past. But since today is our first day back I thought I should show you something new to get you all hyped up for an exciting year!" She clapped her hands together and smiled widely and earnestly at the class.

Hiccup's hand shot into the air.

"Yes Haddock?" professor Caverly asked, her eyes resting fondly on Hiccup.

"Are we going to work with thestrals this year professor?" he asked. _Please please please_ he begged in his mind.

"Yes! Or well, not as intensely as other creatures we've worked with seeing as it's pretty unlikely that any of you are ever going to _see_ any thestrals until you're well past your fifties," she replied.

"What're thestrals?" Merida DunBroch asked. Hiccup rolled his eyes; was it really _that_ hard to be polite and raise your hand?

"Follow me," professor Caverly said. The class followed her into the forest. Rapunzel shuddered as the trees enveloped them. They entered a small clearing. Professor Caverly turned to her class and told them to wait while she worked on getting the thestrals to them. Hiccup could feel the excitement bubbling in his chest, he'd never been close to a thestral in a setting like this before.

"Hey Corona, there's a spider in your hair!" Merida's voice sounded from behind them. Rapunzel let out a high pitched yelp as she started jumping up and down to get it off.

Hiccup reached forward and grabbed her by the shoulders. "There's nothing there, it was just a joke Rae," he said. The blonde breathed heavily as her cheeks turned bright red. Hiccup let go of her shoulders and turned to glare at Merida.

"I'm sorry were you raised in a _barn?_" he asked. "She has arachnophobia, you should try being a bit more considerate," he snapped at her.

"Oh I'm sorry for scaring your _girlfriend_ Haddock," she shot back. Hiccup glared at her.

"What are you, five?" Hiccup sneered.

"I'd say you're the five year old here, you certainly look the part."

"Ladies ladies ladies," a smooth voice spoke from behind them. "You're both equally annoying so can you stop this stupid bickering please?"

Hiccup's eyes shot to the owner of the familiar voice. Of course it belonged to Jack Overland and his stupid face with his stupid hair and his stupidly nice hands.

Hiccup put his hands on his hips and glared at him.

"As soon as little miss bird's nest stops being an inconsiderate brute -"

"Oh how eloquent, is that how Ravenclaws fight?" Merida said, her voice dripping with dry sarcasm.

"- I'll shut up," Hiccup finished, ignoring Merida's words. With that he turned away from Jack Overland's stupid face.

A few minutes later professor Caverly returned. Her left hand seemed to be stroking the air. Hiccup heard a gasp from behind him and he had to restrain himself from turning to see who it had come from.

"Thestrals," Hiccup whispered as professor Caverly led the creatures into the clearing. She turned to the class.

"Raise your hands if you don't see anything," she said. Hiccup raised his hand together with the others. Professor Caverly nodded. "Lower your hands," she said. Then she walked towards them.

"Overland?" she asked, her voice soft. Everyone turned to look at the white hared boy. His blue eyes were wide, locked on the creature behind professor Caverly. She gestured for him to follow her and after a second of hesitation he followed. She led him out into the clearing. The rest of the class watched as she took his hand and placed it on the thestral.

"Why can he see them?" Eugene asked.

"That's a good question, why can only some people see thestrals?" she asked the class.

"You can only see them when you've whitnessed and accepted death," Hiccup said, his voice cautious.

Professor Caverly nodded. "Luckily there haven't been many people who have been able to see thestrals this past decade," she said. Then she cleared her throat. "Thestrals are particularly fond of the people who can see them but it is possible to befriend them without seeing them. Does anyone want to come and say hi?" she asked, a smile tugging at her lips.

Hiccup didn't even have to think twice. He walked up to the invisible creature. Jack was still stood beside it, a hand resting on what Hiccup assumed was its neck.

"They bring peace to the people who see them," professor Caverly informed. Hiccup nodded absent mindedly. He could feel the warmth from the animal, he could sense its presence. He lifted his hand slowly and reached out until his hand hit something solid. It was warm, it felt like a horse's muzzle. His hand travelled downwards until it reached the nostrils. Hot air hit his hand. He pulled his hand away but the thestral pushed its muzzle forward again until it found Hiccup's palm.

Hiccup could feel eyes on him. He turned to look at Jack.

"It likes you," Jack said, his voice small and unsure. Hiccup frowned and turned his attention back to the animal.

"Does anyone else want to touch one? There are four mares and one foul here," professor Caverly said. Some of the other students slowly made their way into the clearing. Caverly smiled and turned to Hiccup and Jack. "You two keep this one in check while I help the others okay," she said before turning away to help Eugene find one of the animals.

Hiccup watched as their professor helped the rest of the class. He smiled when he saw Fishlegs and Rapunzel stroke one of the thestrals. It was weird, touching something invisible. He had seen drawings of thestrals in books so he knew what they looked like. But he knew that those drawings were far from the real thing.

His gaze moved from his friends to Jack who was absent mindedly stroking the thestrals neck. His reaction to the thestrals had been surprisingly calm.

"Why are you so calm?" Hiccup asked, his eyes narrowing on Jack. Jack turned his head to look at him.

"Because I've seen thestrals for nine years now, but this is the first time I've gotten to touch one," he replied. Hiccup nodded and turned his attention back to stroking the thestral's muzzle. Suddenly the thestral moved its head from Hiccup's hand. Hiccup frowned.

"What's it doing?" he asked Jack.

"Looking at your leg," Jack answered, watching curiously as the animal sniffed at Hiccup's left leg.

Hiccup felt the thestral's muzzle against his prosthetic leg. His frown hadn't left his face. Then the pressure disappeared, so did the warmth of the thestral.

"It's walking to professor Caverly," Jack said before Hiccup could ask. "Do you reckon she sees them?" Jack asked, turning his attention to Hiccup.

Hiccup shrugged. "I think you need to see them in order to take care of them. It's not like they're the noisiest creatures in the forest."

Jack didn't say anything else and for a while they both just stood there. The silence wasn't comfortable but it wasn't completely awkward either. Hiccup glanced over at the white haired boy and suppressed a sigh.

Hiccup wouldn't say he had a _crush_ on Jack Overland, now that would be ridiculous. He would be lying if he said he wasn't _interested_ in Jack. But then again, who wasn't? Jack was an intriguing person, he was one of those people everyone knew, yet no one really knew anything about him. Nearly everyone in fifth year and upwards had been at his house, but all everyone could say about him was that he was funny and knew how to make people laugh.

Hiccup was curious. But he knew that his curiosity would never be fed because he was never going to become friends with Jack. Sure, they were aquainted but so was everyone else. They were just two people who sometimes had classes together. And that was okay.

"Okay class!" Professor Caverly had to raise her voice so everyone could hear her. "If you could all just step back out of the clearing, then you can watch as I feed them!"

…

The Ravenclaw common room was quiet that evening. Only a few students had chosen to stay up instead of going to bed. Their first week back was almost over and most of them were still slightly hung over after summer break.

Rapunzel and Fishlegs had claimed the big blue chairs by the fireplace. Hiccup was lying on his stomach in front of them, his elbows resting on a cushion. His friends were engrossed in a deep discussion about some book about Herbology they had both read. Hiccup wasn't paying them much attention. His eyes were skimming the pages of the Evening Prophet. As always there wasn't really much to read. There was one article about a woman who had been bitten by a loose blast-ended screwt. Stoick Haddock, head of the ministry's Auror department, had put out a statement saying; "The day we get rid of these blasted creatures will be the happiest day of my life."

Hiccup rolled his eyes. His dad was a perfect Auror but he wasn't the best at talking to the wizarding press.

Fishlegs yawned and stood up. "I think I'm gonna head up. G'night guys." And with that he left his two friends.

The common room was mostly silent. Three seventh years were whispering together at one of the tables and a third year had passed out on a couch. If you wanted a quiet place then the Ravenclaw tower at eleven in the evening was an excellent candidate.

"Hey Hic." Rapunzel nudged Hiccup's head with her bare foot.

"Ew Rapunzel, don't put your feet in my hair!" Hiccup exclaimed. He quickly sat up and grimaced at his friend. She rolled her eyes, a fond smile tugging at her lips.

"So you were talking to Jack Overland in Care of Magical Creatures today," she cooed. Hiccup narrowed his eyes. "He's pretty handsome, isn't he?" she said.

Hiccup glared. "I'm going to hide a baby skrewt in your pillowcase."

Rapunzel giggled. "Don't be such a wanker Hic, just admit that you think he's cute."

Hiccup blushed and looked away. "Maybe kinda," he mumbled. A triumphant grin spread across Rapunzel's face.

She leaned forward and rested her elbows on her knees. "So what did you two talk about?" she asked.

"Just like, thestrals and stuff. Does it even matter? I think we should be talking about the act that Merida DunBroch is a twat and while I try to be supportive of you I really don't understand why you like her." Hiccup crossed his arms.

"Don't get all defensive now. She didn't know about my phobia, she was just trying to be funny -"

"Well that's a sick sense of humour."

"- she's not all bad Hiccup okay?" Rapunzel sighed. "You always get so defensive and it's annoying. I really just want to talk to you you know. You're my best friend."

"I know, I'm sorry," Hiccup said. He looked down at his lap. "I know I'm not good at talking about these things."

Rapunzel sighed. She got up from her chair and bent down to hug him. "I'm going to bed. Don't stay up too late ye doof." She stood up and ruffled his hair. "G'night Hic."

"Night Rapunzel." He watched her disappear up the stairs to the girl's dormitories.

He fell backwards onto the floor. He looked at the shimmering stars that illuminated the ceiling in the Ravenclaw commons.

"You're a prick Hiccup," he mumbled to himself.


	2. Dragons

Hello hello, here is chapter two! I proof read this at 1 AM so sorry if there are any dumb mistakes! Thank you to everyone who has reviewed and added this to their favourites and alerts it makes my heart go weee, and also a big thank you to all the support from the Tumblr hijack fandom smooches. If you want to follow me on tumblr there is a link to my blog on my profile so yes, now go read!

...

**Chapter Two**

Hiccup opened his eyes to find his world bathed in the dim blue light that was created by the morning light shining through the blue curtains around his bed. He closed his eyes again and groaned. Then he sat up but he'd been too abrupt and his body just fell back again. He sighed as he stared up at the ceiling. Just like in the Great Hall the ceilings in the Ravenclaw commons illuminated the sky outside. Hiccup watched small round clouds float peacefully across a pale blue sky. The weather was clear this morning, the morning sun was most likely lighting up the common room downstairs. Hiccup lifted his arms above his head and stretched before slowly getting out of bed.

It was only half past six in the morning. He could have slept for another hour but he could also spend that time reading in the now quiet common room. He quickly got dressed in a clean uniform before grabbing a book and heading downstairs.

As predicted the sun lit up the common room. Hiccup sat down in one of the big comfy chairs by a window with a view of the sun rising above the mountains. He looked at the book he'd brought down with him. It was a book he'd found in the older section of Flourish and Blotts. The book was titled _Dragons and their Purposes_. He sifted through the pages. Every page had a drawing of a different dragon, some of them were huge, others were tiny. There were deadly nadders, hideous zipplebacks, gronckles ... and the only thing they all had in common was that they were all deadly. According to the book a dragon would always go for the kill.

He reached the final pages of the book. He frowned as he looked at the nearly empty page. There was no drawing, no measures, nothing.

_Night Fury_

_Speed: Unknown.  
Size: Unknown_

_The Night Fury is said to be the unholy offspring of lightning and death itself. Never engage this dragon. Your only chance: Hide and pray it does not find you._

"What," he whispered to himself as he examined the page. There was nothing else to read. Hiccup had memorised almost every kind of dragon you'd expect to find in Great Britain but he had never read or seen anything about the night fury until now.

He closed the book. _This is an old book_, he thought to himself. _They've probably found out that night furies don't really exist or something_. He heard noises from upstairs, people were waking up and getting ready. Hiccup stood up and went back up to his dorm with the book. Their first class was Potions so he threw his Potions book in his satchel. He went downstairs again, met Rapunzel and Fishlegs, and together they embarked on another tedious day of classes.

..

I wasn't until a week later that Hiccup thought of the night fury again.

Professor Aster was a tall broad shouldered man with a tiny waist and a strong Australian accent. He was the last person you'd expect to be a Herbology professor. He looked more like an action hero. But he loved his job. The students were annoying most of the time but he got to work with plants all day. And he would never tell anyone, but deep down he did care for the kids in his classes.

Hiccup knew this because one time he'd fallen and broken his good leg during a Herbology lesson. Professor Aster had carried him up to the Hospital Wing himself and he told him to be more careful. And when Hiccup's second cousin Astrid Hofferson from Gryffindor had been bitten by a magical plant, professor Aster had healed her arm himself using some herbs. Hiccup knew professor Aster loved plants because he spent nearly all of his time in the greenhouses and he often helped professor Caverly with her pumpkins. Hiccup was pretty sure they were in love with each other.

Professor Aster was Hiccup's favourite professor even though Herbology wasn't his best subject. But it wasn't his worst either and he loved Thursdays because on Thursdays their last class was Herbology and professor Aster always came up with something fun and exciting for them to do because he was too tired to be serious.

"I really hope we won't have to touch dragon dung today," Rapunzel said and crinkled her nose. The class was waiting outside the green house. The weather was nice, the sky was pale with small fluffy clouds floating here and there. The afternoon autumn sun cast an orange light on the old castle.

Just like Care of Magical Creatures, Ravenclaw shared Herbology with Gryffindor. And since Herbology was an obligatory class they were all there. Jack and Eugene were throwing Astrid's shoulder bag back and forth between them. Merida soon joined the game. Astrid scowled and shouted "Give it back you idiots or you're off the team!" But they didn't listen because they knew Astrid would never kick them off the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Astrid sighed and gave up on trying to get her bag back.

"Why are they even doing that?" Rapunzel asked. "I mean couldn't they have used something else instead of annoying Astrid?"

"I think the point of the game is to annoy Astrid," Hiccup said.

The class quieted down as they noticed professor Aster walking towards them from the castle. Jack, Eugene, and Merida didn't seem to notice the professor because they kept throwing Astrid's bag between themselves. They didn't notice until Jack heard a loud cough behind him. He turned around and his eyes widened.

"Give miss Hofferson her bag back," he said, his voice strict and his eyes narrowed. Jack nodded. He hurried over to Astrid and handed her the bag. She glared at him.

"Class, today we won't be in the greenhouse," professor Aster said. "As you all know we secured a decently sized area of the Forbidden Forest last year and so I thought it would be a good idea to show you how to find and catalog plants and herbs that you find in the wild. I will teach you what is edible and what is poisonous, what is healing and what will bite you." His eyes skimmed over the class, making sure that everyone was paying attention. "I will now pair you all into groups of two. If you have any objections please come to me and let me know." He reached into his satchel and pulled out a piece of parchment. He began listing the names of everyone, sorting them into pairs. "Rapunzel Corona with Astrid Hofferson, Merida DunBroch with Ursula Jones, Hiccup Haddock and Jack Overland, Katrin Gregory and Ruffnut Thorsten -"

Hiccup's eyes widened. Was he seriously about to spend an hour in the forest with Jack? A little voice in the back of his head was cheering and opening a bottle of champagne while the main voice in his head was sighing and shaking its head.

_Being paired with Jack is good, he's okay at Herbology and he's not as big of an idiot as his friends_, Hiccup told himself.

"When you've all found your partners we'll walk together down to the forest. Don't leave the group unless I say that it's okay," professor Aster said, his eyes narrowing on Merida. She rolled her eyes.

Hiccup and Rapunzel said their s'laters to Fishlegs who'd been paired with a Ravenclaw girl. Then they made their way towards Astrid and Jack who were leaning against the greenhouse wall casually chatting. Jack and Astrid were pretty good friends. Hiccup remembered the summer after their first year when Jack had stayed at Astrid's for a week. Hiccup and his dad visited once during that week and it ended with Jack and Astrid throwing water balloons at Hiccup. Hiccup remembered how angry he'd been, how he'd told them both that he hated them and how Astrid had believed him. She'd been sad for weeks after that. Hiccup had to tell her that he'd just said it because he was angry and all was well again after that. Astrid and Hiccup used to be best friends when they were kids but while Astrid insisted that they'd both be sorted into the same house and be best friends forever, Hiccup knew that they probably wouldn't be in the same house. As soon as they'd been sorted things started changing. Astrid became friends with Merida, Jack, and Eugene while Hiccup befriended Rapunzel and Fishlegs. Astrid became pretty popular while Hiccup sort of just _existed_. But they were still friends and they still talked to each other, they just weren't best friends anymore.

"Hi Hic," she greeted.

"Hi Astrid," Hiccup said. Rapunzel who stood beside Hiccup linker her arm tightly with his.

"All right class let's move!" Professor Aster had to raise his voice over the chit chatter of the class.

They walk down to the forest was awkward. Hiccup didn't know why but he felt tense, he didn't have anything to say. Rapunzel squeezed his arm and gave him an encouraging smile. They walked past professor Caverly's hut. She was feeding her crups with dead mice. She smiled and waved at the class and professor Aster waved back.

They entered the darker world in the secured section of the forest. A small part of the forest had been secured last year so that the Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures students could experience creatures and plants in their natural habitats. They still weren't allowed to enter the forest without a teacher.

The group came to a halt. Professor Aster told them to "shut up" and they did. The only sounds to be heard were those that belonged to the forest; the dance of the branches and leaves as the wind blew past them, the far-away sounds of hippogriffs, the occasional hoot, the sound of leaves crunching under their feet every time someone moved.

"In your textbooks you have a chapter about temperate forest herbs," professor Aster said. "Today I want you to find jawlined rambola, dark fallatin, and sweet snackleruff. I have checked and all three of those grow in this part of the forest." He lifted his wand and used accio to summon baskets, one for each pair. "You'll need a basket to keep your finds in. Remember, if you can't hear any of the other students you've gone too far away! Don't go past the markings, you will be put in a month's detention if you do!" He had to raise his voice again as the noise level of the class rose. Hiccup looked at Jack. Jack shuffled forward rather awkwardly to stand beside him. Rapunzel let go of Hiccup's arm and went to walk with Astrid.

Hiccup and Jack were amongst the last to get their baskets. Professor Aster reminded them of the protected section's boundaries before sending them on their way.

Hiccup had already opened his book to the chapter about temperate forest herbs. "Okay so jawlined rambola grows by the roots of trees and it's very common so maybe we should find that one first, uhm it says here that it's this very stingy red moss ..." Hiccup trailed off and brought a hand up to scratch the back of his head as he read.

"Like this?" Jack asked. He kneeled and looked at the red moss that was growing around the tree roots. He reached out and touch it only to feel an immediate stinging pain in his entire hand. "Shit!" he yelped as he jumped up and backed away from the tree. He stared with horror at his hand, his fingertips were bright red.

"You're not supposed to touch it!" Hiccup scolded. "I thought you were decent at Herbology!" Hiccup went over to the tree, pulled the sleeve of his robe over his hand, and picked up some of the moss.

Jack rolled his eyes. "Show-off," he muttered. Hiccup snorted and put the moss in the basket.

"Says the guy with white hair," Hiccup retorted.

Jack smirked. "Touché."

They continued their search for forest mosses and plants. They didn't say much except from when they had to but the silence wasn't awkward, it was … peaceful. Jack's steps were light, when they passes rocks and large tree roots he jumped over them instead of going around. Hiccup was more cautious, he didn't want to fall flat on his face in front of Jack. And of course there was the fact that he had a fake leg to deal with.

Suddenly Hiccup noticed that the surrounding forest was too silent. He frowned and listened closely to the forest. He heard nothing but the wind whistling past the trees and owls hooting in the distance.

"Jack I think we should go back," he said, his ears still on high alert. But Jack wasn't listening, he was looking at the ground with curious eyes. "Jack," Hiccup said again, trying to catch the other boy's attention. Hiccup went to stand beside him. "What're you -"

He didn't finish the sentence. A soft gasp escaped his lips as he saw what Jack was looking at.

Big boulders were laid out in a perfect row. There were inscriptions on them, Hiccup recognised some of them as spells. This had to be the edge of the protected section of the forest, the spells on the boulders were there to keep less intelligent creatures away and to remind the more intelligent ones like centaurs and hippogriffs that this was a protected part of the forest. The centaurs had agreed to let the wizards use this part of their forest because they valued knowledge.

"Okay we're definitely turning back now come on," Hiccup said and turned away from the boulders. But Jack didn't move. Hiccup turned to look at him. "Jack," he said. Jack turned his head and looked at Hiccup. He smiled mischievously and like a cat he climbed onto one of the boulders. Hiccup's eyes widened and he hurried over to try and talk some sense into him.

"Jack do you want to clean vomit off the floor in the Hospital Wing for the next six months?" Hiccup snapped. Jack was now standing on the boulder. He looked at Hiccup, a boyish sparkle in his blue eyes.

"Come on Haddock, when was the last time you broke the rules? Don't you want to see a real centaur? Maybe we'll even find a unicorn!" Jack said excitedly.

"The centaurs are going to murder us," he said while glaring at Jack. But a tiny bubble of curiosity grew in his stomach. It would be pretty amazing to see a centaur.

"Hiccup come on, we still have thirty minutes left before the bell rings, we only need to collect one other species, we won't get caught I promise." Jack's voice was honest. He reached his hand down to Hiccup, ready to help him up.

Hiccup sighed, put the basket and his Herbology book down, and grabbed Jack's hand. Jack pulled him up onto the boulder.

"We are going to die and our bodies will be eaten by hippogriffs," Hiccup said in a monotone voice. Jack smiled and shook his head.

They jumped off the boulder. "They really should have cast some spells to prevent humans from crossing the boulders," Hiccup said. Jack wasn't listening, he was already walking. Hiccup sighed and followed. He tried to suppress the rush he got from crossing the boundaries but he soon gave up.

As they wandered deeper into the forest the trees became older and thicker, they kept the light from the sky away from the forest floor letting nothing but a weak green glow lead the boys deeper into the unknown. It was colder there too, both boys shivered.

Hiccup took a sharp breath when he nearly tripped over something on the ground. He quickly stood up straight and took a deep breath to calm his heart. Jack looked at him with concern before kneeling down and examining the strange object that was lying in Hiccup's way. It looked like a wing, it was covered in black scales and when Jack touched it he got blood on his fingers. Hiccup looked at the side of the wing-like thing and noticed that it looked like it had been ripped off of something.

"I think … I think it's half of a tail fin," he said, frowning. "It looks like it's been ripped off."

"What kind of creature do you think it's from?" Jack asked and looked up at Hiccup.

"It's pretty big, I would say a dragon because of the size and the scales but there haven't been any recordings of dragons in the forbidden forest in a long time." Hiccup bent down and let his hand glide over the tail fin. The scales were smooth and he could feel that they were normally dry under the blood. "Maybe we should get out of -"

Hiccup's sentence was cut off by a loud beastly roar. Jack jumped up from his kneeling position and turned his head frantically.

He turned to look at Hiccup with wide eyes. "Maybe we should go back," he said. Hiccup nodded.

But then the beast roared again. And again. Then there was another sound, a defeated noise that echoed throughout the forest.

"I think it's hurt," Hiccup said. "We should … we should help." He looked at Jack who's eyes were wide. He looked back at Hiccup and saw his worried expression.

"Hiccup that's a _beast_, we're not going to help it," he hissed.

"Well then you go back while I find out what's going on." Hiccup lifted his nose and began walking away from Jack and towards the beast.

"Hiccup! Hiccup! You're not doing this," Jack said. He didn't go back alone, instead he followed Hiccup. "You could get killed!"

"Weren't you the one who suggested that we went here in the first place?" Hiccup snapped without looking back. His pace quickened as the beast kept whimpering.

"Yes but I wasn't planning to get you _killed_," Jack replied.

"It's not your fault if I get killed okay, _I'm_ the one who chose to go find this creature, this doesn't really have anything to do with you so would you please s_hut up!_" Hiccup stopped and turned to glare at Jack who glared right back. Hiccup let out a deep sigh and continued walking. He heard Jack's light footsteps trailing behind him.

There were two massive boulders ahead of them, the boulders had to be over ten feet tall. There was a slim crack of space in between them and that was where the beastly sounds were coming from. The two boys made their way through the crack. When they came out on the other side they were greeted by the bright light of the sky.

They had entered a large round cove with a small lake in the middle. Hiccup's eyes found what they'd been looking for when he saw a large black dragon lying on the ground. He began climbing down to the cove rather clumsily. Jack followed, his climbing was more elegant than Hiccup's.

"It's a dragon," Hiccup breathed as he reached the floor of the cove, his eyes never leaving the black scaled beast.

"Do you know what kind of dragon it is?" Jack asked, he had lowered his voice as not to disturb the dragon.

"I don't know, we need to go closer," Hiccup replied. He slowly but surely started making his way towards the dragon. Jack's breath got caught in his throat as he watched the brunet. He got very close to the dragon, he even dared to reach out to touch it but then the beast snarled, showing a set of sharp teeth. He raised his hands and began backing away but then the dragon let out a rather pathetic whimper. It blinked and when it looked at him again its pupils were dilated and it had pulled its teeth in.

Hiccup walked back to the dragon and kneeled in front of it. That was when he noticed that there were large chunks of meat and skin missing from its body and its beautiful black scales had been ripped open. They seemed to be battle wounds. The dragon had wrapped itself in its wings.

Jack gathered up all his courage and walked to sit beside Hiccup. He noticed that the dragon's left tail fin was missing. The dragon's breaths were deep and hoarse, smoke was coming out of its throat and flowing into the air. It looked distressed and tired.

"I think it's dying," Hiccup said. His voice was low and his fare wore a sorrowful expression. Both boys sat there in silence and watched the dragon as it struggled to breathe.

"Is there nothing we can do?" Jack asked. Hiccup looked at him and saw desperation in his blue eyes. He shook his head.

"I don't think so," he said.

The dragon opened its eyes and looked at them without blinking. Then it slowly lifted its upper wing, eyes never leaving the two humans sat in front of it. It lifted its wing to reveal a black egg resting against its chest. It let out a choked sound and looked at the boys with pleading eyes.

Hiccup didn't understand at first, but then he realised what the dragon wanted. It wanted someone to make sure its egg would be okay. And he felt a lump in his throat as he looked at the egg; it was tiny compared to its mother. Hiccup scooted forward.

"W-what are you doing?" Jack asked.

"She wants me to take her egg," Hiccup said, his voice was shaking. His fingertips grazed the egg's surface. The shell felt like rough leather. He carefully took the egg in his hands and brought it to his chest.

Jack reached out and laid a hand on the egg, feeling the leathery shell. He frowned and looked at the dying dragon. Her eyes were closed but she was still breathing heavily. Without thinking Jack leaned forward and laid a hand under the dragon's eye. The dragon opened her eyes and looked at him. She let out one last whimper and then her head fell back.

Jack looked at Hiccup who was still cradling the egg. The egg was very warm, the tiny reptile in it was still alive. Hiccup looked back at Jack and swallowed the lump in his throat.

"I think I just adopted an orphaned dragon."


	3. Hotcup

**Chapter Three**

"I can't believe we got _three months!_ We were only gone for twenty minutes after class had ended!" Jack exclaimed.

"Yes but we also went past the boundaries," Hiccup reminded him.

"Three months is still absolutely _mental!_"

Hiccup rolled his eyes. They were making their way back from professor Aster's office. The professor had been waiting for them in the Entrance Hall and he had invited them into his office where they'd been told that if they ever crossed the boundaries again he would transfigure them into eggs and tell the house elves to scramble them for breakfast.

The black egg was hidden away in Hiccup's school bag, he could feel its warmth through the fabric of the bag.

"At least we only have to help the house elves, it could've been worse, he could've had us clean the Hospital Wing," he said.

"Yeah but _three months_ though!"

Hiccup sighed and shook his head. "Yeah well we have a bigger problem to focus on."

Jack looked at the smaller boy. He could see the shape of the egg through the fabric of Hiccup's bag. "I'm sorry. It's just that I'm already busy with Quidditch and school work so detention isn't really what I need right now," Jack said and smiled softly at Hiccup who didn't smile back.

"Yes well if you stopped acting like a prick you wouldn't be put in detention."

Jack chuckled. "Yeah no, that would be boring. I think our headmistress would die of boredom if I became all nice and cute like you"

Hiccup froze and turned his head to look at Jack with wide eyes. "W-what?"

A bright red blush bloomed across Jack's cheeks. He lifted his hand to scratch at the back of his neck. "I uhm, I mean you're like sorta uhm." He glanced around the corridor. "Oh wow it's really late I should get back to Gryffindor because uhm, you know uhm, homework and and like boobs yeah!"

Hiccup frowned. "Oh okay, let's pretend that everything you just said made perfect sense."

Jack swallowed. "I uhm, I'll see you tomorrow Ho- I mean Hiccup." He coughed. "Oh and if anything happens with the egg let me know because I guess it's my baby I mean egg too, ugh okay s'later."

And with that the white haired boy literally sprinted down the corridor away from Hiccup.

"I am so confused right now," Hiccup said to himself. He adjusted the strap of his bag and began walking to the Ravenclaw commons.

…

"Are ye okay Overland?"

Jack was lying on his bed in the nearly empty fifth year boys' dormitory in the Gryffindor commons. His head was buried in his pillow and his cheeks still heated up when he thought about those stupid things he'd said to Hiccup. Hiccup probably thought he was a complete pervert now.

"I don't want to talk about it," he said, his voice was muffled by the pillow.

"Come on Jack, we've been friends since we were eleven," said Merida who was sitting on his bed, leaning her back against the footboard. "You got lost in the forest with wee Haddock and you came back looking like a squished tomato. Now spill."

Jack groaned and sat up. He turned his body until he was leaning his head against the headboard of his bed. He saw the almost scary determination in Merida's eyes and sighed because he knew she would never give up, and if he didn't tell her soon she'd probably start hitting him with a pillow.

He closed his eyes. "I sorta kinda accidentally let it slip that I think he's cute." He bit his lower lip and opened his eyes to look at Merida who was staring at him with wide eyes. Then she started laughing. "This isn't funny!" Jack exclaimed. "We were walking alone in the corridor and we had this really good conversation going right and I had to ruin everything by calling him cute!"

"Yeah but ye think he's cute, you weren't lyin' or anythin'," Merida said between fits of giggles.

"No one is supposed to know that," Jack hissed. He glanced around the dormitory, making sure that it was empty apart from himself and Merida. Then he slid down until he was lying flat on his bed. "I just … I've never really talked to him before like that, I've just sort of -"

"- had a massive crush on him for nearly six months?" Merida cut him off with a smirk.

"Shut up you hag," Jack said. "It's just that I've been creeping on him from afar for a really long time and I _talked_ to him today Mer, we had a full conversation! And he's really funny and smart and he called me a prick! The only other people who are intentionally rude to me are you and Astrid. And – and he smelled really good." Jack grabbed the pillow from under his head and dropped it onto his face.

"I see you have a very bad case of the _hiccups_."

"And because of you I nearly called him Hotcup so I think you should shut up," Jack said as he moved the pillow from his face and hugged it to his chest.

"You _didn't!_" Merida exclaimed.

"I did," Jack whined. "I hate you so much right now."

"Oh ye'll never forget this! I will tell this story at your wedding!" Merida clapped her hands and crawled over to lie down next to Jack.

"I don't want to have a crush on him," Jack said, his voice was soft. He turned his head to the side and looked at Merida.

"I'm not the biggest fan of Hiccup and ye know that. But that's 'cus me and him mutually dislike each other. Other than that he seems nice and I sort of understand why ye like him." Merida smiled earnestly. "And maybe it would be good for you to get to know him better, you need friends who're open about themselves because maybe someone like him could help ye."

"That was strangely insightful," Jack commented. Merida smirked.

"All I'm saying is that I know you want to come out and maybe ye need a friend who can help you with that. And it doesn't hurt that he's potential boyfriend material."

Jack blushed. "I'm acting like a twelve year old girl."

Merida abruptly sat up. "Hey there isn't anythin' wrong with bein' a girl! Have ye ever seen me or Astrid gigglin' and blushin' like you're doing right now? This is the problem, we live in a society where bein' a girl is seen as bein' weak and that's rubbish!"

"Thank you for showing me the light, maybe I can discuss feminism with Hotcup the next time I see him."

"Wait did you just -"

"I SAID HICCUP SHUT UP MERIDA _SHUT UP!_"

…

It was midnight but Hiccup was still up. He was sitting on the floor by a window in the Ravenclaw common room with the black egg on his lap. The pale moonlight made the leathery surface of the egg shine. The egg was warm. Hiccup looked at it with wondrous eyes, he let his hands slide over it, he lifted it in his hands and examined it.

He had read many books about dragons but he had never seen one up close. Dragons flew away to secret breeding grounds to have their eggs and nurture their young but no one had ever dared to look for them. Therefore there wasn't a lot of information out there about dragon eggs. Some said they exploded when they hatched, others said that the shell melted.

Hiccup's mind wandered away from the egg itself. He thought of the parent, the big black dragon he'd seen die. He had never seen anything like it in any book. When he'd gotten back to his dorm earlier that night he'd made a few sketches of the dragon. He had estimated it to be around ten feet long and from what he'd seen it must've had an enormous wingspan.

He leaned his head against the wall behind him and closed his eyes. He didn't know what to do, all he knew was that there was a living creature inside the egg and he couldn't leave it now.

"You better not explode when you hatch," he said, looking pointedly at the egg. Suddenly he heard footsteps coming from one of the staircases. He quickly put the egg back into his bag, he didn't want anyone to see it.

"Hiccup why are you still up?"

Hiccup looked up to find Rapunzel standing in front of him in her nightgown. Her hair was hanging in loose waves down to her knees and she was holding a bright green chameleon in her arms. He let out a sigh of relief.

"Uhm I was just thinking," he said hurriedly.

Rapunzel raised an eyebrow and sat down on the floor beside him. "What were you fiddling with?" she asked, her voice filled with suspicion.

"Oh just y'know, stuff."

Rapunzel sighed. "Hiccup you know you can tell me anything. You've been acting strange ever since you got back from Aster's office."

Hiccup sighed and grabbed his bag. His eyes quickly scanned the common room before he opened the bag and revealed the egg. Rapunzel frowned.

"Me and Jack found this in the forest or well, we didn't really find it. I guess it was kinda given to us," he said as he took the egg out of the bag and held it out to Rapunzel.

"But – what's in there?" she asked as she touched the egg.

Hiccup told her the story of how he and Jack had crossed the boundaries. He told her about the black dragon and their promise to take care of the egg.

"What are you going to do? I mean you can't just hide a dragon under your bed, those things grow pretty fast," she said.

"I don't know." Hiccup let his head fall back against the wall with a soft thud. "But Jack said he'd help me so I guess we could hide it under _his_ bed."

Rapunzel snorted.

"Please take this seriously," Hiccup said.

"So who's the mummy and who's the daddy?"

"That is a perfect example of how to _not_ take it seriously."

"Awwh come on Hiccup, I was joking. You have to admit it's pretty cute." She bumped her shoulder against his and smiled. Hiccup blushed. Rapunzel's words reminded him of Jack's odd behaviour earlier that evening.

"Yes, the cutest part is the fact that being in possession of a dragon egg is _illegal_," Hiccup said dryly.

"Yeah but I won't tell anyone and neither will Jack unless he wants Pascal's tongue in his eye." The little chameleon on her shoulder stuck its tongue out. "But there's something else bothering you."

Hiccup looked at her and shook his head softly. "I guess I'm just tired, we really should head up," he lied. Rapunzel smiled gently before standing up.

Hiccup put the egg in the bag and threw the bag over his shoulder before standing up as well. They walked together to the staircases. The common room was mostly dark, the stars on the ceiling were hidden behind dark clouds. Rapunzel began walking up the stairs but turned around to say one last thing to Hiccup.

"Don't hold it in for too long."

Hiccup rolled his eyes at Rapunzel's tone of voice. "I'll try not to."

Rapunzel smiled before continuing up the stairs. When she'd disappeared around the corner Hiccup turned around and went to walk up to his own dormitory.

Before he fell asleep that night he wondered what Jack had said to his friends. He wondered if he had said anything about the egg, were he and his friends as close as Hiccup and Rapunzel? From what Hiccup had seen Jack seemed to be closest to Merida but even then their relationship seemed a bit superficial.

He wouldn't have liked it if Merida knew about the egg, he didn't trust her at all. But then again, would Jack like the fact that Rapunzel knew? Had Jack even thought about the egg or was he too busy being a prick? Was Jack even trustworthy?

Hiccup didn't know. And suddenly the seriousness of the situation hit him. He was in possession of a dragon egg and he had to trust Jack Overland, of _all people_, to keep his mouth shut about it.

_Do I just keep the egg in my bag and wait for something to happen?_ Hiccup thought to himself. The egg was still in his bag which he had shoved under the bed.

Hiccup rolled over and looked out through the window on the opposite wall. It was a dark night, the moon was hidden behind dark clouds so there was barely anything to see out there.

"You better keep your promise," he muttered before pulling the covers up over his head.

…

The next morning had a few surprises in store for Hiccup.

As they were eating breakfast the mail came flying into the Great Hall. It came as no surprise that Rapunzel received a care package from her parents. But then a familiar large grey owl landed in front of Hiccup and he froze. He rarely ever got mail from anyone and if he got a letter it was usually from his uncle Gobber. He carefully untied the letter from the owl's leg and unfolded it.

"Who's it from?" Rapunzel asked.

"I-it's from my dad," Hiccup stuttered.

"Well read it!"

Hiccup began reading. His frown grew as he ead his father's surprisingly neat handwriting.

He wouldn't say he and his dad had a bad relationship or anything, it was just a bit strained at times because they didn't quite understand each other. And Hiccup felt bad for his dad who had to live alone for the majority of the year while Hiccup was at school, so Hiccup always made sure to spend plenty of time with him when they were both home. But Stoick rarely wrote letters to his son unless there was an emergency.

"He just … asks me how I'm doing," Hiccup said after he'd finished reading the letter. He looked up at Rapunzel. "He talked a bit about work and then he asked me how I was doing."

"Something's a-brewin'," Rapunzel said, lifting her hands up to her face and clawing at the air like a witch from a muggle fairytale.

"I will admit it's quite fishy," Hiccup said. He grabbed a piece of parchment and a quill from his bad and quickly scribbled down a reply. He tied it to the owl's leg and sent it off.

After breakfast was over they walked to Potions. Morning traffic at Hogwarts was one of the worst things to get through so Hiccup and his friends tended to leave early so they could walk slowly without being trampled to death.

"What if he's preparing you for bad news? What if you're moving? What if Gobber _died?_"

"Rapunzel you're more concerned about this than I am," Hiccup said. He adjusted the strap of his bag. The warmth of the egg was oddly comforting.

Rapunzel's eyes widened. "What if he's getting married again?" She gasped.

"I've been gone for a _month_." Hiccup shook his head and looked at her. "How much coffee did you drink this morning?"

Rapunzel tutted and turned her head away from him. "I am only showing some friendly concern, you should feel loved."

Hiccup smirked and rolled his eyes. They had reached the staircase that led down to the Potions classroom when he heard a familiar voice call his name from behind. He turned around to see Jack jogging towards them with Merida walking a few feet behind him.

"Hey," Jack breathed as he fell into step with Hiccup. His blue eyes were way too bright considering how early it was.

"Uhm hi?" Hiccup replied, unsure of why Jack was walking with them. Merida was still trailing behind him wearing a rather grumpy expression.

"So I was wondering if we could sit with you guys in Potions today because professor Blevins doesn't want me and Merida to sir with Astrid and Eugene anymore."

This bit of information came as no surprise to Hiccup, whenever the four Gryffindors were together they usually made a lot of noise. He was however surprised to hear that Jack wanted to sit with _them_. Hiccup looked at Rapunzel who shrugged. He then looked back at Jack.

"Yeah I guess since Fishlegs is sick today," he said with a shrug. Jack smiled excitedly and turned his head to look at Merida. She snorted like an angry bull.

"Awwh cheer up, I know you love spending time with Hiccup and Rapunzel." Jack said sweetly.

Rapunzel's head snapped up at the mention of her name. She turned her head to look at Jack. "You know my name?" she blurted out before she could stop herself.

Jack frowned. "We've been going to school together for five years, of course I know your name, I'm not that big of an asshole."

Hiccup snorted. "Yes you are and actually we've only bee going to school together for _four_ years."

"Whatever you say sweetheart," Jack said with a smirk. Hiccup's cheeks turned bright red and he picked up his pace.

"Yer such an asswipe Jack," Merida said, making Rapunzel giggle.

"Well at least I'm not an old hag with three cats who all have creepy Scottish naaames," Jack sing-songed.

Jack and Merida bickered all the way to their table in the dim Potions classroom. They only stopped when Hiccup threw a quill at Jack and it hit him in the eye.

"I am BLEEDING!"

"I'M SO SORRY OH MERLIN I'M SO SORRY!"

"Just take me to the hospital wing you prat!"

…

**Author's note: **SORRY SORRY SORRY I KNOW THIS TOOK FOREVER! Basically my summer turned out to be more fun-packed than I'd expected like for example I went to the beach today with FRIENDS? Like wow what even? But yes I hope you enjoyed this chapter! And I promise Jack isn't going blind, they're in the wizarding world so his eye shouldn't be too hard to fix (although I can't guarantee there won't be a bit of pirate-ness later on).

I want to thank everyone who's reading this because it honestly means so so so much to me! I know I'm not the best writer but I really want to tell this story and it makes me happy that people want to read it.

I don't know when the next chapter will be out because I'm going to Denmark for nine days on Monday but I'll try to write on the plane!

This note is a monster I'm sorry I love ya'll thank you so much for reading this I honestly appreciate it to no end!


	4. The Egg Club

**Chapter Four**

"Well that was some very good quillwork mister Haddock," Madam Arms commented as she examined Jack's eye. "We should be able to fix it with a potion but your eye will be very light-sensitive for at least a week."

"Oh-kaaay, which means?" Jack asked.

"Let me guess, he'll be a pirate for a week," Hiccup said. Madam Arms nodded.

"I'll go find the potion," the nurse said and left the room.

The hospital wing was quite eerie. Oddly enough Jack was the only injured person in the room, all the beds were empty.

"I'm uhm, like I'm sorry for nearly poking your eye out," Hiccup said, sending an apologetic glance at Jack.

"It's a'right, I've been worse."

That was true. Jack had broken legs, arms, teeth, toes, wrists – most of them were Quidditch-related injuries except from that one time Merida broke his wrist in a fight between the two of them that had turned violent.

"Yeah but still, I did a shitty thing and I feel shitty." Hiccup shrugged and sat down on the edge of the bed next to Jack.

"This is the first time I've seen you do something shitty so you're still pretty clean in my book."

"Am I really that dull?" Hiccup asked.

"Nah, just a bit predictable I guess." Jack shrugged.

"Well you don't really know me so yeah." Hiccup crossed his arms.

Jack realised that he might have offended Hiccup. He bit his lip. "So uh, how's the egg?"

"Intact, hard, warm, heavy, not noisy at all, doesn't wee on the floor, I'd say it's a nine out of ten." Hiccup smirked. "You're actually so awkward when you talk, I never realised that before. You just always seemed like such a smooth guy," he then said and looked at Jack.

_Yeah but I'm talking to __**you**__._ "Yeah I'm kinda stupid really." _I actually just kinda have this crush on you and I'm scared I'll say something wrong. _"Just ask Merida, she'll know."

"I don't think me and DunBroch will have a heart-to-heart anytime soon but thanks for the tip."

"Anytime."

Madam Arms reappeared with a small bottle filled with some green gooey liquid.

"Will it hurt?" Jack asked as he closed his good eye tightly.

"Only for three to four hours," Madam Arms replied.

Hiccup couldn't help but laugh at the face Jack made as a drop of the liquid fell into his eye. Madam Arms had to shush him twice to get him to stop giggling.

Jack got a black eye patch from the nurse, he was instructed to only take it off during the night, otherwise his eye might implode.

"This isn't funny! I can't play Quidditch with _one eye!_" Jack exclaimed as they exited the Hospital Wing. "Our back-up keeper is _shitty_, Astrid is going to be _so_ angry!"

"One week Jack," Hiccup said. "I'm sure Astrid can manage without you. Besides, your first match isn't until November."

"May I remind you that November is only a month away? I'll only have three weeks to practice before the match and it's against your flippin' house! And don't tell anyone I said this, but the Ravenclaw team is pretty damn good." Jack ran a hand through his hair.

"Well look on the bright side; now you know what to dress up as for the Halloween ball," Hiccup said.

"Yes of course, a smelly pirate costume will definitely get the ladies." Jack immediately regretted his words. He bit his lower lip and looked at Hiccup who seemed unfaced by it.

They walked in slightly strained silence for a while. The corridors were quiet but they could hear the rumble of people from the other side of the walls where the classrooms were. The air had become piercing cold and dry, bringing news of an upcoming snowstorm with it.

Suddenly Hiccup blurted "So are you and Merida going together to the ball?" He felt a blush creep up his neck. He forced his eyes to focus on the floor ahead of him instead of looking at Jack's reaction.

"I don't know, probably if she's not going with anyone else," he replied. "But if we go together it'll just be a friend thing because going alone is pretty sad." He looked down at Hiccup. "What about you?"

The blush that had sprung out on Hiccup's neck spread to his freckled cheeks. "Uh I guess I'm going with Rapunzel or stag, I don't really have anyone special on my mind so ..." he trailed off.

"Same here," Jack said and coughed awkwardly.

"I bet you'll have plenty of girls chasing after you," Hiccup remarked.

Jack snorted. "Yeah but they don't really know me and most of them get really clingy and sticky and I don't want to have to deal with that for the entire evening."

"Yeah," Hiccup said thoughtfully.

Jack cleared his throat. "So uh, you're fine with not having a proper date then?"

Hiccup shrugged. "I guess, I mean I'm fifteen so it's not like I'm in a hurry to get married or anything."

Jack nodded in response. _Maybe one day I'll ask him_, he thought to himself.

"Besides there isn't exactly a mile-long buffet of gay guys in this castle," Hiccup added. "Maybe I'll ask Dumbledore's painting."

"I'm sure he'd be delighted." Jack smiled. "And hey you never know, maybe there are more guys here than you think!"

"In that case they must be hiding from my repulsive attitude and my stalker tendencies," Hiccup said with a smile.

Their witty banter went on until they reached the stairs that led to the Potions classroom where they found Merida and Rapunzel waiting for them. Class had just finished, Merida's hair was even frizzier than usual and some weird green stuff was covering Rapunzel's cheeks.

"_Ohoy matey_, wha' happen'd to yer eye? Did ye _lewse_ it?" Merida shouted as she saw them.

"Your pirate accent is ruining my self-confidence," Jack said, clutching his heart.

"Well that's on bloody time you got down from yer high horse. Now let's go," Merida said.

Jack turned to Hiccup who already had his arm linked with Rapunzel's.

"I'll see you later to like, uhm, talk about the thing." Jack scratched at the back of his head, Hiccup noted that he did that a lot.

"Right, have a nice day Jack, Merida."

And with that the four of them parted.

…

That same night Jack approached Hiccup after dinner. Hiccup was quite puzzled at first, he wasn't expecting Jack to want to talk to him again so soon. He and Rapunzel had just exited the Great Hall when Jack popped out of nowhere beside Hiccup.

"Secret egg meeting in the kitchen," Jack whispered. Rapunzel's eyes widened like balloons that were being blown up.

"Is this about the dr-" she began but was cut off by Hiccup's palm on her mouth.

"You _told her?_" Jack asked, frowning.

"Yes," Hiccup said and removed his hand from Rapunzel's face. "Because I kinda carry this thing around with me twenty-four seven and she is with me ninety percent of the time," he explained.

"Okay, so you just let her into the egg club without asking me first?"

"Need I remind you again that _I'm_ the one _carrying_ the egg? I'll tell whoever I want to! And this isn't a club."

"Yeah well you'd be mad if I told Merida."

"Rapunzel is trustworthy, besides you like Rae and I hate Merida."

"Who said I like Rapunzel?"

"_Everyone_ likes Rapunzel, she's the sweetest person in this castle!"

"Uhm guys," Rapunzel said. "It might not be a good idea arguing about this right outside the Great Hall."

Hiccup and Jack both looked angrily at her.

"Right," Hiccup said and straightened his back. "To the kitchen then." He turned away from both of the others and began walking away.

"The kitchen is in the other direction!" Jack said loudly.

"I knew that!" Hiccup replied and turned around. Truthfully he had never been to the kitchen because it was against the rules and he had no idea how to get there.

Jack smirked. He and Rapunzel caught up with Hiccup and Jack led them in the direction of the Hufflepuff commons. They entered the corridor with the fruit painting. Jack tickled the pear which made Rapunzel giggle..

When they entered the kitchen they were immediately greeted by the house elves who offered them all kinds of food. Jack looked thoughtful for a second but then he asked for some chocolate cookies.

Rapunzel stared wide eyed as they fetched Jack's order. "Can you just ask them to give you food?" she asked.

"Yeah, they love serving so ask away."

She humbly asked for a slice of pumpkin pie. Instead of a slice, the elves gave her an entire pie.

They went to sit down on the floor by the huge fireplace. Jack smiled to the elves and said that they didn't need anything else. The elves went to rest and the kitchen became silent.

Jack and Rapunzel ate their food and watched as Hiccup opened his bag and took out the egg. It looked exactly the same as when Jack and Hiccup had found it a few days earlier although it was a bit heavier.

"So," Jack said awkwardly.

"It's an egg," Hiccup said.

"You're both stupid," Rapunzel said. She turned her face to look at Hiccup. "So tell us what you know about dragon eggs nerd."

Hiccup rolled his eyes. "I guess the most important thing for us is how they hatch and the problem is nobody really knows. Some say they just hatch like any bird's egg, some say the shell melts, others say they explode."

"That is … less fortunate," Jack said.

"Thank you for your insight Jack. Anyway I'm assuming our egg is close to hatching because of its weight and warmth which is alarming. I would not like to die from a dragon egg explosion."

"A dragon _egg_splosion," Jack said and chuckled at his own roofless hilarity. The pun also made Rapunzel giggle.

"Hilarious, I'm very close to wetting myself," Hiccup said dryly. But a smile still appeared on his face.

"So what do we do? I mean when it hatches? We can't very well carry a baby dragon in our school bags," Rapunzel said.

"And the dorms are out of the question," Jack said.

"Couldn't we keep it here?" Hiccup suggested.

"But don't the professors visit this place?" Rapunzel asked.

"I've been sneaking in and out of here several times every day since first year and I've never seen a professor anywhere near the kitchen." Jack said.

"Yeah I'm pretty sure the elves apparate into their offices with food and stuff," Hiccup said.

"And the elves wouldn't rat us out because that's not how house elves work," jack said.

"So the kitchen it is then!" Rapunzel exclaimed.

"At least until the dragon grows, then we can smuggle it out to the forest," Hiccup said.

"I am astounded by our brilliance, we did a good job tonight egg clubbers." Jack burped and rubbed his stomach.

"Why do girls want to date you?" Rapunzel said and shook her head.

"Because I don't need to be walked, I only have to be fed thrice a day, and I can groom myself."

"You're the ugliest dog I've ever seen," Hiccup said.

They sat in silence for a while. Hiccup had moved the egg closer to himself, he was examining it with his eyes and hands. Rapunzel was also looking at the egg curiously.

Jack couldn't keep his attention on the egg. Instead his eyes wandered to the long thin fingers that were brushing the surface of tit. His eyes then moved up to Hiccup's face which was partly hidden by his fringe.

Rapunzel looked up from the egg and saw the dazed look in Jack's eyes. Jack felt Rapunzel's eyes on him so he quickly looked away. He felt the heat blossom in his cheeks.

Rapunzel frowned.

"This is really stupid," Hiccup said, breaking the silence. "If we get caught we'll be expelled."

"I fail to see a downside," said Jack. Hiccup rolled his eyes again.

"But Hiccup you care about that egg, don't you?" Rapunzel said softly. "You wouldn't want the dragon to get shipped off to a country far away to be used as a work horse or a vault guard, living its entire life in the dark." She smiled. "And there's no way we'll get expelled with your brains, Jack's sneaky butt, and my unbreakable optimism!"

Hiccup and Jack both laughed.

They stayed in the kitchen for a bit longer until Hiccup remembered an essay he had to finish writing. Jack seemed reluctant to leave at first (which Rapunzel noted) but followed them out nonetheless.

They said their goodnights as they reached the staircase that led to the Ravenclaw tower. Jack continued through the dark silent castle, wrapping his robes around himself as a shield against the biting cold. He wrinkled his nose at the feeling of the itchy eye patch, it would take him a while to get used to it.

Luckily he made it to the Fat Lady without interrupting any busy couples in the corridors. He said the password and entered the warm common room.

He quickly made his way up the stairs and into the 5th year boys' dormitory. He made sure no one was in there before hopping onto his bed and jumping up and down for a good few minutes.

"I'm gonna see him everyday! We're gonna take care of a dragon! We'll spend late nights in the kitchen together!" Jack squealed as he jumped. Then he let himself fall down onto the bed with a loud squeak. He looked up at the canopy with a tired smile. _And then he's gonna realise that he's madly in love with me and we'll drop out of school and become hippie nudists who only eat hamburgers!_ he thought to himself.

Okay maybe that's stretching it.

Suddenly the door burst open and Merida stormed inside, her hair flew behind her and her nostrils were flaring.

"Overland I demand to know where you have been for the past _billion_ hours!" she snapped, stopping in front of his bed and placing her hands on her hips. "I just had to endure the most tedious conversation with Sam Leon, do you know how many times I've rejected that kid? _Seven times_ Jack!"

"Oh shut up hag," Jack said. "I was just talking to Hiccup." _And Rapunzel. In the kitchen. Yeah._

"Ye sneaky little Don Juan, tell me all about it," Merida demanded and sat down on the bed.

"Well there's not much to it really, we just talked about boring stuff, no big development y'know," Jack said. Merida narrowed her eyes.

"Yer lying about something," she said. "Spill it or I'll cut you open and punctuate yer gallbladder."

Jack sighed. He looked at Merida who had been his best friend for years. She was the only person in the whole world who knew he was gay, the only person who knew his face better than he, and the only person who was honest with him at all times.

He sat up. "Do you swear to Merlin that you'll never ever _ever_ tell this to _anyone?_" he asked as he took her hand in both of his.

Merida frowned but nodded. The intensity in Jack's eyes was uncanny.

Jack took a deep breath before speaking. "Okay so me and Hiccup found this dying dragon in the forest right and it had an egg and we took it and now Hiccup carries it in his bag and Rapunzel knows too and it's a big secret so don't tell anyone!"

Merida raised an eyebrow. "Do you need a cup of water after that marathon?"

"So you're okay with it?"

She smirked. "Only if I get to be a part of it because you're a ditz and Rapunzel seems loopy," she said. Jack sighed.

"Okay but I'll have to talk to Hiccup first," he said before letting go of her hand.

"I bet ye do."

"If you keep mocking me you won't be accepted into the egg club," Jack said.

"The _egg club?_ Seriously?"

"Hey it's cool okay!"

Merida chuckled. "Whatever you say."

"Your reaction to this is surprisingly calm," Jack noted.

"Yeah because this castle stinks mate, but a dragon egg? That's exciting! It's been a while since I've been a part of something that was actually fun."

"_And_ dangerous, we could get expelled," Jack said with a smirk.

"Expelled? Psh! Not with my cunning mind! We're gonna win this!" She smiled widely.

"I like that attitude!"

…

**Author's note: **I know this one was super short but I'll try to get another update out this week since I'm on fall break and all! And I'm sorry for the long wait, school has just been really overwhelming and if you follow me on Tumblr you'll know that I've had a hard time getting used to my new medication. I went from 20mg citalopram to 30mg so I'm always sleepy.

The next chapter won't be this short omg, I usually try to stay around the 3,000 words mark but this one's only 2,700.

Thank you for your continued support, I appreciate it to no end :)


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